We can guarantee that most of you will have experienced a “bad manager” personally. The phrase, “We’ve always done it this way”, was the slogan for old-school senior nurses responsible for new students learning.
When I was training to be a nurse, we learned how important it is not to ignore the needs of people with disabilities or mental health issues—something that happened in the past. Even though nursing has improved, sometimes, without realizing it, we still make things hard for people with hidden disabilities.
On my first day, I got labelled as someone who makes trouble because I asked why patients could only have tea at certain times while the staff could have it whenever they wanted. As a new nurse, I was just trying to do what I thought was right. I’m not the type to just ignore problems. I was determined to keep asking until I found someone who agreed with me and could make the necessary changes.
I was experiencing what my allies called “the middle-aged mafia”, who made it their mission to criticise my every move. As a 21-year-old nurse newly qualified, this further bought into the little-known ADHD rejection-sensitive dysphoria that often accompanies and interestingly does not show up in any other condition, only those with ADHD.
If you think you can be an ally for the neurodivergent community and have great ideas for improving your workplace, bang on our door!
We love neurodivergent influencers who finally feel empowered to share their experiences and discuss how neurodivergence has affected them. In doing this, they educate the public whilst challenging stereotypes and reframing the narrative that isolates those who think differently.
Most recently, Miley Cyrus has felt comfortable disclosing she has Tourettes, Johnny Vegas, Serena Williams, and Jamie Oliver revealed ADHD. We need more high-profile disclosures to normalise these differences and how to manage people’s expectations and unconscious bias. However, sadly, we aren’t there yet, and my own experiences of ADHD disclosure have not been received well.